Fish Tank  Shopping 101

Adding a fish tank to your bedroom is one thing. Even adding a new fish tank to your game room in the basement is a relatively easy task for most husbands to tackle. However, if you've never touched a hammer or plan on installing a custom fish tank recessed in the wall, mounted on a custom fish tank table or some other 'creative' idea your wife came up with; it's a good idea to do a little fish tank shopping research before you hit your local Home Depot and start wailing away.

Proof positive that fish tanks come in all shapes and sizes.

5 Reasons why toilet fish tanks are cool :

This is a crude install of a toilet bowl fish tank.

Unfortunately there isn’t a Fish tanks 101 course you can take to give you an overview on the things to look for when you’re shopping for your first fish tank. You could certainly get discouraged and even frustrated if you were thrown into fish tank hunting blindly and even more so when you find out later on that you probably could have saved yourself some time and money had you done a little research. For instance, most people probably aren't aware that large fish tanks consume up to 50% more energy than a smaller fish tank.

Research will also tell you that technology has brought us into the age of glass alternatives. Acrylic fish tanks are far superior in several ways to your typical glass fish tank. Sizes of acrylic fish tanks range from countertop to very large fish tanks. Some of the benefits of these manmade fish aquariums are the fact they are extremely light, making transporting them much less of hassle. If you're making your own fish tank stand and fish aquarium as one piece, such as an old monitor or TV, you'll probably love the flexibility and ease of use of the newer types of fish tanks.

The Mac Monitor is a great way to utilize those old junky Macs and turn them into something useful like a fish tank. Like the junky Macs you have lying around, turn those old tv sets into fish tanks for a surefire way to keep the conversation going.

These types of fish tank are also stronger, much stronger. In fact acrylic fish tanks are not only 17x more stronger, but they are also much more flexible and almost never chip or crack. If you have kids in the house, this is a huge bonus as parents all over the world cringe every time their children come within 10 ft. of their fish tank. Knocking over any fish aquarium, regardless of the location, makes me second guess owning one myself. However, if you safely secure your fish aquarium and child proof the surrounding area it shouldn't be any more of a stressor than the closest china cabinet.

Leaks. The best glass fish tanks in the world are all prone to leaks because of the water pressure and the fact the fish tank is not one piece, meaning every adjacent piece of glass is held together by sealant. You can imagine the mess that ensues if you spring a leak in some of the large fish tanks out there. Yet another benefit of the acrylic fish aquariums are they are molecularly welded at each seam, essentially making the entire fish tank one piece and that means no leaks!


There is no need for a fish tank stand on this bad boy. Obviously, this is novelty and no fish were injured in the making of this fish tank. Large fish tanks, small fish tanks and now digital fish tanks are a growing trend.

Large fish tanks might see the benefits even more. The transparency of these new fish tanks remains @ 93% regardless of the size of the fish tanks. Usually in standard large fish tanks you’d notice a green haze or film of the sides of the glass. Also, in the past you may have noticed your heating bill increase significantly as the natural temperature fluctuates. Acrylic fish tanks win here too; they insulate the water up to 20% better and that means more savings for you and more fish! But you have to be careful not to combine the wrong types of fish in your fish tank or they could all die. Consult your local pet store fish guru for more info.  Also some species can't handle large fish tanks; maybe they insane because they don't know what to do with all the room.

Fish tank stands come in all shapes, sizes and colors giving fish tank shoppers even more options, or headaches, depending on how you look at it. You can choose from all-in-one fish tank stand pieces that are fully capable of supporting large fish tanks. Your fish tank stand is vitally important to both the safety of your fish tank and the functionality of your fish aquarium. The lower storage compartment of your fish tank stand doesn’t have to be used solely for aquarium accessories, though that is what most fish tank owners use the area for.


Fish aquariums are now being integrated into just about every piece of furniture you can imagine, even sinks!   A number of aquarium accessories had to be used in order to make this setup work.

If you’re looking for the perfect combination of fish tank and fish tank stand, it may take some patience to find the perfect combo. However, the fish tank hobby doesn’t stop there. You’ll find yourself picking up random aquarium accessories every time you step foot in a PetCo. Fish feeders, filtration parts and hyrdrometers are essential aquarium accessories you can count on picking sooner than later if you’ve already purchased your first fish tank. Don’t forget the scenery your fish will feel naked without; things like artificial corals, live rocks and other pond products.  

I’m not here to talk you into or out of any particular type of fish tank. If you want to go buy 5 large fish tanks and start packing as many goldfish in each one as you can, knock yourself out. However, you plan on having a presentable fish tank and want to keep it looking impressive, take the time to do a little research on fish tanks and choose wisely. Fish aquariums can add so much to any room setting, but maintaining the large fish tanks can become expensive and time consuming. It’s a great idea to want to utilize the fish tank stand as more than just storage for aquarium accessories. Fish aquariums aren’t just for the rich and famous, but more for the calm and patient.

 

Putting a fish tank in your home isn't where the job ends. In fact, it's where the job begins. If you're picking up a fish tank, I'll assume you'll want some fish to put in your new aquarium tank so you can show off your new hobby to your family and friends. That's great, but just know you'll be spending a lot of money on fish supplies, the fish tank filter and other aquarium supplies you might not have envisioned when you want to domesticate 'Frank the Goldfish'. Fish tanks are expensive over time, even if you find some good deals on cheap fish tanks, you'll still be paying for them each year as you have to do the routine maintenance.